Dunno really is the answer. In my case, whilst I’d been to Christmas dinners and my mother’s Ladies Night, and helped transport an organ to & from lodge, I wasn’t really aware of masonry until I hit 21 and my father said ‘when you want to join just say’. Up to that point, it was just my father ‘going out for a meeting’ every other month, I wasn’t aware of what it was all about.

There is nothing obligating us to tell anyone anything.
It’s no different than joining anything else. If you joined a tennis or golf club, would you be obligated to tell anyone that you joined? I would say it’s a pretty similar situation in this case.

So no….dad doesn’t have to tell his kids anything. However, most members are proud of their membership and would be very unlikely to hide it from their family. I imagine most Dads would like in their hearts to see their sons join, but many fathers don’t ask their sons to do so, in the hopes that they will come to the decision on their own…and many do.

Totally agree. My two sons (12 & 9) are already aware of my membership and have met a number of the senior members of our Province - the ProvGM, his predecessor, the Deputy, the secretary, and the (former) DC. The oldest has already asked me how old he has to to join, so he’s already impressed with the sort of people who are members.

Ironically, when I first started my journey, no one in my family knew what I was up to (my mother only knew “something” was going on when she kept calling on nights I wasn’t in school, yet was at a meeting). [reference: most of my family are idiots and not worth my time]

When my wife spilled the beans, I was nearing the start of Fellow Craft when my mother told me that my grandfather was a Freemason (he died before I was born).

Luckily enough, I was able to get a picture of his dues card / history from our Grand Lodge Library and give her a copy of it for Christmas. Best Christmas present she got in a VERY long time..

While this tale does not relate directly to your question, I would say the same applies to mothers and spouses as well.

The only place I understand that a freemason is compelled to state he is one, is in court proceedings in England. At least, thats how it used to be-that could have changed. Nowhere else in the world is a man compelled to let ANYONE know, to include his own family.
Now, that being said-most men that have families, their families would be aware that they were one. Be it through them announcing they are going to the meetings, or via fundraising they attend, or family things-I cannot imagine it being too hard for an immediate family member to know their husband or father is a mason.
But, stranger things HAVE occurred….